It is one of the greatest websites in the history of sited webs.
You will go there. You will click on the link. It will give you an awesome pairing of two characters (I just got HE’S A BISEXUAL SCIENTIST WHO BELIEVES HE CAN NEVER LOVE AGAIN and SHE’S A PARANOID MAGICIAN’S ASSISTANT WITH HER OWN DAYTIME TV SHOW, which is really just amazing). You will take these two characters and put them in a story together.
I don’t really care so much that they actually fight crime.
You can have that as a basis, but mostly, I’m just looking to see these characters interact.
So, do that.
Length: ~1500 words
Due by: May 20th, noon EST
Post online at your online space.
Link back to the story in the comments.
Enjoy.
[EDIT: I see that the site automatically makes each of the two characters male and female — I don’t think there’s any need to enforce that in your stories. Feel free to go with whatever genders you see fit.)
67 responses to “Flash Fiction Challenge: They Fight Crime!”
Absolutely awesome idea…but why are all the pairings male/female? (I realize the link is not a site you run or anything, just sayin’ is all.)
Ah, you know, I’d missed that. I have no idea — but I don’t think it’s necessary to keep that gender pairing/parity for the stories.
I think it’s a common trope in television now. It’s actually kind of rare ~not~ to have the pairing. Hollywood loves the romantic tension bollocks XD
If you click on Add Names you can specify genders for the two names (and just use pronouns or spaces for the names)
This is awesome! Bookmarking for future days of writing sprints.
ha ha – agreed! They Fight Crime is hilarious! I got : He’s an albino master criminal with uncontrollable jazz hands. She’s a paranoid sorcerer with a magical ham sandwich in her pocket. Together, They Fight Crime!
Excellent! Now where’s my pen…..
http://youcantgoback-andotherimpossibilities.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/my-bloody-valentine.html
Found a pair I loved! 😀
Enjoy! 😀
Oh god… I thought this was an actual show and wanted it to be true:
He’s a fast-talking opera singer living undercover at a circus, She’s an obese paleontologist haunted by the brutal murder of her family. Together, they fight crime.
I got :
He’s a hunchbacked Elvis impersonator from the spirit world and She’s a bloodthirsty paleontologist with a backpack full of scones.
Together, They Fight Crime!
But. . .what flavor scones? And does the hunchback do fat Elvis or skinny Elvis?
Here’s my story. . . .was surprisingly fun to write. Hope you enjoy
http://dswilliams.com/2016/05/13/flash-fiction-challenge-they-fight-crime/
Absolutely loved poor Dead Elvis in this — following along for the scones and singing the King’s tunes. (Now, if she’d just fry up some bacon and smear some peanut butter and bananas on those scones… “Thank you… thank you very much!”)
Thank you. . .It was a very fun story to write. When I saw the pairing I was like. . .wt…oh. . .wait. . . yes. . .that would work.
This was so incredibly clever, especially the ending. Great way to put two implausible people together!
Thank you. . . knew it had to end with a “Big Musical Number”. . .every Elvis movie ended with a “Big Number”
What a great site, Chuck – how do you find them when you’re so busy?!
I got:
He’s a green-fingered advertising executive who believes he’s a wolf. She’s a mentally unstable astronaut with a magical ham sandwich in her pocket.
Is green-fingered the same as a green thumb? I’ve never heard that expression before.
Here’s my story! Enjoy!
https://laurengreenewrites.com/2016/05/17/the-weird-adventures-of-dick-and-jane/
He’s an oversexed police officer from the spirit world-
She’s a bisexual paleontologist with a terrible skin condition!
How did I not know about this site?
These are hilarious! I couldn’t stop refreshing. Now I have a half a dozen pairings, and may mix and match (and play with gender). I mean if one is an over-sexed paleontologist and the other a virginal Jehovah’s Witness, no reason they can’t both be male. Or female. Or whatevers.
Omg that site is all kinds of awesomeness! This is so much fun…but now I’m left with the dilemma of too many crazy characters and I don’t know how to choose!
Can’t wait to work on this:
He’s a green-fingered gangster terrified of onions.
She’s an orphaned Celtic Fan on a tiny horse.
Together, They Fight Crime!
After hitting refresh a few times.
He’s a suicidal small-town romance novelist fleeing from a secret government programme. She’s a cosmopolitan gold-digging mermaid who can talk to animals. They fight crime!
We’ll see how it all works out.
I couldn’t quite get all the stuff in, but it was more fun than I thought it would be. http://wp.me/p4ifXa-vK
Very much liked how you squeezed such a creative, surprisingly sweet and complete story out of those disparate elements. And liked the interaction between the characters.
Went with the first one I got. Yea, this happened……Enjoy!
He’s a hunchbacked-advertising executive, with a love for bananas; She’s a nymphomaniac-paleontologist, with a bag of horse meat. Together, they fight crime.
https://atcrump.com/2016/05/13/tales-on-acid/
One piece of constructive criticism: your story’s tense changed a few times between present and past, which threw me off. Otherwise, this was one of the oddest LOL trippy things I’ve ever read (tales on acid indeed!)… and Definitely NSFW 😀
Thanks for that. Wrote it on a whim, corrected. Lol, yea I went for big air with the oddness. Thanks for reading.
[…] decided to give Mental State a break this week. Instead, I jumped into Chuck Wendig’s THEY FIGHT CRIME! prompt with both feet. There wasn’t a way to link directly to the output of the Movie Idea […]
“He’s a sharp-shooting war veteran who don’t take no shit from nobody. She’s a fast-talking museum curator haunted by the brutal murder of her family. Together, they fight crime!”
http://article94.wordpress.com/2016/05/13/they-fight-crime/
OMG, what hilarity ensues when these characters work together? I looked at several pairings and can’t pick a fave. They are all too funny. Maybe I will have to write more than one….
[…] Fiction Friday and Chuck Wendig’s Challenge: They Fight Crime. The word limit for this was 1,500 but I seem to have gone a bit over and I could have kept as […]
[…] We were allowed to leave the crime bit out. Though, in all honesty I couldn’t quite fit all those themes into 1500ish words. Check out more Flash Fiction here. […]
I actually got something I felt I could work into a serious story (although I did get to have some fun with the tight pants!).
I went about twice the length I was supposed to… but I was having so much fun with the story and the characters it seemed worth it. Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.
So coming soon to a screen near you:
He’s a bloodthirsty
Master Criminal
wearing extremely tight pants.
She’s an orphaned
Astronaut
haunted by the brutal murder of her family.
Together, They Fight Crime!
https://qyksilver.wordpress.com/2016/05/14/white-knights-and-black-holes/
(Warning: naughty words.)
I enjoyed this. I commented on your blog too. Your writing reminds me of Elmore Leonard. Great job.
Wow, thank you! I am positively humbled. Seriously, I can imagine no higher compliment when it comes to writing dialogue. (I’m a huge Elmore Leonard fan!). Dutch, Gregory McDonald (Fletch), & John D. MacDonald (I’m so disappointed I didn’t grow up to be Travis McGee) were my “coaches” when it came to dialogue…
I’m a huge Elmore Leonard fan too. I love how he can tell the story through dialogue. I’ve always liked dialogue, and I really admire how you use it in this story.
[…] challenge for Chuck Wendig’s TerribleMinds.com site. This time, it’s putting together characters based on http://theyfightcrime.net/. I […]
When I did this, I told myself “no refreshes, no alterations,” and I got:
“He’s a disco-crazy opera singer with 35 hours left to live. She’s a hypochondriac paleontologist on a tiny horse. Together They Fight Crime!”
First shot. OF COURSE I called it “Staying Alive.” How could you doubt me?
http://www.pearlriverflow.com/newsflow/2016/5/15/staying-alive
I notice it hands out “paleontologist” a lot.
It took me a moment, but once I realized how the story was structured I enjoyed it. Her hypochondria was great comic relief throughout!
Thanks. I’m gonna go back and simply write “35 Hours” “34 Hours” etc as the chapter titles, that should let people pick it up pretty quickly.
I liked it. I don’t mind having to use my noodle for a moment here and there 😉
[…] this is this week’s writing challenge, and when I first got it, I wasn’t sure there was anything here. Now, I know it’s the […]
I got “He’s a bisexual grave digger with a bag of magic beans. She’s a green-fingered barbarian who can talk to animals.” Weirdly enough, this is just the start of a longer story. http://andreaspeed.com/2016/flash-fiction-challenge-they-fight-crime/
He’s a paraplegic sorcerer with a bag full of used knickers.
She’s an obese barbarian possessed with the uncanny powers of an insect.
Together, they kinda fuck around.
https://dcxli.wordpress.com/2016/05/16/together-they-fight-crime/
I got:
He’s a grave digger
on a mission from God.
She’s a devious
magician’s assistant
with a fear of the unknown.
Together, They Fight Crime!
Hopefully I’ll be back shortly with something written. The well has been quite dry.
Andre, I feel you! Worst case, if you want, just start typing the words describing each of the characters and then see if you can get them just talking to each other. No action, no story, just dialogue back and forth. Straight interaction… here’s a quick thought to see if we can get some water flowing in the well: maybe they’re talking at the gravesite he’s dug for the corpse of the (murdered) magician she worked for?
Thanks for the advice/suggestion! Very cool of you… I’ll see if something loosens up! 🙂
My pleasure, hope it helps! Just let it flow, man. Even if you think it’s utter crap go ahead and post it. It’s still breaking the logjam 😉 Sometimes, just having characters talk (hearing them) is …um… weirdly therapeutic.
To be honest, I couldn’t stop clicking on the link and laughing… In the end I settled for this:
“He’s a sharp-shooting French-Canadian with a gambling addiction.
She’s an oversexed Celtic Fan who is addicted to crack.
Together, They Fight Crime!”
But at some point the hilarity fell off and the story took a different turn. Here’s “Nasty Comeback”:
https://medium.com/@VicenteLRuiz/nasty-comeback-1407f8cf64c7
(Replying to myself to get notifications…)
I got: He’s a deeply religious evil genius wearing extremely tight pants. She’s a bisexual barbarian with a bag of horse meat. Together, they fight crime! Well, actually, they commit a crime. Maybe. Just read the story. http://runnerskye.ca/they-fight-crime/
I got:
A time travelling underwear model who’s aboutta open a can of whoop ass and
A devious paper folder who’s in love with the Honey Monster.
Together, they fight crime!! Enjoy!
https://helenoloughlin.com/2016/05/19/they-fight-crime/
[…] simple enough challenge. Go to theyfightcrime.net. Use those characters in a story. My […]
He’s a bisexual evil genius with a water pistol full of pee.
She’s an orphaned barbarian from the wrong side of the tracks.
Together, they fight giant cockroaches!
https://mxgomez.wordpress.com/2016/05/19/they-fight-crime-a-chuck-wendig-challenge/
My pairing:
He’s a sleep-deprived scientist from a land time forgot.
She’s time-travelling astronaut from the wrong side of the tracks.
Together, they fight crime!
It inspired a mini world-build and the story will continue.
Derailed is now on my webpage: http://karenjcarlisle.com/2016/05/20/fiction-friday-short-story-challenge-they-fight-crime/
[…] of up to 1500 words. So a bit more than just a flash really. Chuck Wendig’s latest challenge, They Fight Crime, was entertaining from the start. Go to They Fight Crime website. Grab a random pairing of […]
I cheated, as I so often do, and picked my own pairing from a number of lovely suggestions. Then I made them both female. But I did make them fight crime!
http://www.ninjalibrarian.com/2016/05/friday-flash-they-fight-crime.html
This was such an incredible challenge! I ended up LOVING the characters I got and I had so much fun with them. I even have the insane urge to play with them a bit more and possibly turn this into a slightly longer story. It’s been such a long time since I’ve written anything so I feel a tad on the rusty side and any feedback at all would be treated like gold. The thoughts of other writers is invaluable to me 🙂
Anyway, these are the characters I got:
He’s a sharp-shooting paranormal investigator with a bag full of used knickers.
She’s a mistrustful war veteran from another dimension.
https://mickienotthemouse.dreamwidth.org/920.html
[…] This week’s challenge requires going to a website called They Fight Crime, which randomly serves up two wacky character descriptions. Our assignment, should we choose to accept it, is to write a story of around 1,500 words showing those characters interacting. Having them fight crime is optional. […]
Hi. First time doing this. I got:
He’s a hunchbacked advertising executive with a bag of magic beans.
She’s a mentally unstable snake charmer in love with the honey monster.
Together, they fight crime!
https://lotterymeals.wordpress.com/2016/05/20/together-they-fight-crime/
[…] Chuck Wendig’s FF Challenge: THEY FIGHT CRIME! I […]
He’s a drug-addicted French-Canadian living on borrowed time.
She’s a fast talking snake charmer from another dimension.
Together, They Fight Crime!
https://johnfreeter.wordpress.com/2016/05/20/they-fight-crime/
Hm. An 8ft tall alien Elvis impersonator and a fast-talking palaeolontologist with an MBA from Harvard. Once they get together, they may fight crime! 🙂 I called it ‘Return to Sender’
http://jemimapett.com/blog/2016/05/20/fridayflash-fiction-return-to-sender/
Duuuuude. I totally used the prompt to write an 1800 word story in a day… but I liked it so much I submitted it to a paying fiction magazine instead of posting it on my blogspace. Woops! Thanks for the inspiration.
[…] For ideas, I turned to my Feedly list of author blogs, and found a fun and chuckle-worthy writing prompt on Chuck Wendig’s website, Terrible Minds. […]
[…] For ideas, I turned to my Feedly list of author blogs, and found a fun and chuckle-worthy writing prompt on Chuck Wendig’s website, Terrible Minds. […]